Only Got My Martial Arts Modifier in My Old Age

Sun Niangu continued his story, "Back then, Emperor Zulong marshaled the full power of his empire to secretly prepare an elixir-seeking expedition."

"One thousand Anjin Martial Artists, and one hundred Grandmasters of Huajin!"

"Then, he gathered nearly all the Qi Refiners and Alchemists from the Hundred Schools of Thought and, using a supreme Secret Technique, forcibly wiped all personal awareness and memories from the Martial Artists’ minds, turning them into perfect puppets who knew only absolute obedience, with no thoughts of their own!"

"This invincible fleet, composed entirely of puppets, sailed out from a river in the legendary Kunlun Secret Realm and headed for the open ocean, its destination the Overseas Immortal Island."

A fanatical glint flashed in Sun Niangu’s eyes. "In less than a year, the fleet actually succeeded!"

"They returned to the mouth of the river in the Kunlun Secret Realm with a ship full of the Elixir of Immortality!"

"Just as the ship of Immortal Flesh arrived successfully, and Emperor Zulong and the leaders of the Hundred Schools of Thought were preparing to receive this ultimate treasure that could fulfill their dream of true longevity..."

"Overlord Chu appeared, single-handedly blocking the only entrance to the Kunlun Secret Realm’s port!"

"Emperor Zulong and nearly all the top Qi Refiners and Alchemists of the Hundred Schools of Thought present were enraged. They immediately joined forces, setting an inescapable trap and vowing to encircle and kill this arrogant fool who didn’t know his own limits!"

"The resulting battle was world-shattering. Relying on his Innate Divine Power, Overlord Chu nearly slaughtered the entirety of the Hundred Schools’ forces that had joined together to besiege him!"

"Even Emperor Zulong himself was gravely wounded in the fierce battle, and in the end, he had no choice but to use a Secret Technique to escape!"

"But the most unexpected thing was that after Overlord Chu defeated all his enemies and seized the treasure ship laden with Immortal Flesh, he wasn’t even tempted by this Immortal Flesh that could make one’s power skyrocket!"

"Instead, he made a decision that no one could comprehend. Overlord Chu divided the entire ship’s worth of the Elixir of Immortality into countless portions and secretly hid them in every corner of the Daxia Territory!"

"Then, before he died, Overlord Chu announced this news to the world."

"Each portion of the Elixir of Immortality came with a detailed map guiding to its location."

"And these maps were sealed within a special type of crystal, called the Immortality Crystal!"

"Only a Grandmaster of Huajin can slowly infuse their Qi into an Immortality Crystal to view the map sealed inside without damaging its internal structure."

"If any external force is used to try and break an Immortality Crystal open, its intricate internal structure will instantly self-destruct, turning to dust along with the map!"

Sun Niangu spread his hands and sighed emotionally, "Brother Lu, when you get down to it, we people of later generations really ought to thank this Overlord Chu."

"If he hadn’t acted, all this Immortal Flesh would have been consumed long ago. How would people like us ever get a chance to even touch it?"

"However, it was also because of that great battle in the Kunlun Secret Realm that Emperor Zulong’s injuries proved fatal, and he passed away not long after."

"Meanwhile, the elite forces of the Hundred Schools of Thought were almost completely annihilated by Overlord Chu. Numerous lineages were severed, and from then on, they never recovered. Some even gradually vanished into the river of time."

"Afterward, the people of the Yin Dynasty took advantage of the power vacuum and established their rule over the Central Plains. To solidify their reign, they even found many of the surviving Alchemists and used a Secret Technique to forcibly sever the Ancestral Dragon Vein that Emperor Zulong had established."

"From that point on, the Spiritual Qi in the world grew thinner and thinner. The cultivation of Martial Arts and Qi Refining Techniques also became more and more difficult..."

As he spoke, he gave Lu Yun a meaningful look and said slowly, "Brother Lu, you of all people should have the most personal experience with this, shouldn’t you?"

"You’ve been at the Peak of Anjin, painstakingly cultivating for thirty years, yet you’ve never been able to break through the bottleneck to reach Huajin."

"This is all just because the Spiritual Qi in the world is growing ever thinner."

After listening to all this, Lu Yun was a little dumbfounded. ’Why does all of this sound so familiar?’

It suddenly reminded him of a certain bastard in a straw hat.

"You want the Elixir of Immortality? I put it all there!"

"Since the Immortal Flesh is so important, wouldn’t it be more efficient to use modern shipbuilding and navigation technology to organize a powerful fleet and search for the ’Overseas Immortal Island’ directly, rather than searching for ’Immortal Flesh’ across the vast Daxia Territory?"

Lu Yun’s question made the smile on Sun Niangu’s face falter slightly. He shook his head and slowly began to speak.

"Brother Lu, do you think that in these past few hundred years, no one else has had that thought?"

"The descendants of the surviving branches of the Hundred Schools of Thought, the top experts secretly cultivated by the Yin Dynasty, and even the titans of the martial world... Who wouldn’t want to find the legendary Overseas Immortal Island and obtain an endless supply of Immortal Flesh?"

"Over the past few hundred years, fleets have been sent overseas to search for the Immortal Island at various times, at least a hundred times!"

"Among them, there was no shortage of massive, well-prepared fleets, filled with experts and outfitted with the finest equipment!"

"And the result? They all vanished! No sign of the living, no sign of the dead. Not even a single piece of wreckage from their ships has ever been found!"

"Therefore, it’s highly likely that the Overseas Immortal Island is surrounded by an Array left behind by an Immortal!"

"That Array seems to only recognize one specific path: the starting point of Emperor Zulong’s puppet fleet, which is the mouth of the Seeking Immortal River in the Kunlun Secret Realm!"

"Only by departing from there can a ship possibly pass through the Array and successfully reach the Immortal Island."

"Any attempt to approach from any other direction or on any other path will be mercilessly devoured by the Array!"

"We suspect that the Overseas Immortal Island isn’t even in this world at all!"

Sun Niangu abruptly changed the subject. "Do you know why the Western Countries are invading Daxia with military force, as if they’ve gone mad?"

"Besides wanting to acquire vast wealth, they also want to seize the Immortality Crystals and occupy the Kunlun Secret Realm at all costs—especially to control the critically important mouth of the Seeking Immortal River!"

"They fantasize that as long as they occupy the gateway, they can gather their most advanced scientific power and elite researchers, and one day, they’ll be able to truly reach the Overseas Immortal Island and claim all the Immortal Flesh there for themselves!"

Lu Yun had finally finished processing all the earth-shattering secrets Sun Niangu had revealed.

Then, he asked a question out of the blue, "Have... you eaten the Elixir of Immortality?"

Hearing this, Sun Niangu was taken aback for a moment, but then he let out a few hearty laughs and nodded in smug admission.

"Heh heh heh... That’s right!"

He leaned back slightly, resting against the back of his chair and said leisurely, "Over these past few hundred years, although the Immortal Flesh scattered by Overlord Chu was hidden secretly, the world is a vast place filled with countless talented and extraordinary individuals. It was inevitable that some portions would be found by chance."

"And my Sun Family, being one of the Hundred Schools of Thought, is no exception. An ancestor of mine was fortunate enough to obtain a small portion of Immortal Flesh by a twist of fate during the middle of the previous dynasty."